Wish I knew it was stainless clad, too. When I had a Makoto recently as a catch and release, I wiped excessively since I knew I would sell it. Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about (Fuss is warranted, by the way).

I don't mind some knife blingy-ness, and this one is a helluva good looker

To clarify, performance, style of grind, edge profile, and steel resemble my Yuki, which I do not find to have the same flaws I have read about but do find to have most of the benefits I read about. Whether I am not attentive to those issues, my Yuki is better than average, or other peoples' Yukis are worse than average I cannot say. The handle and fit are unquestionably better and I would say overall performance may be better, too.

I have been using the knife moderately and retention is proving at least good. I have sent it through enough produce I would be happy if it was reaching its limit, but it still has a lot of that off the stone feel. I do wonder how it is going to start to fade. It has formed an ideal stable patina, the sort of matte grey with hints of color that is not much to look at but is absolutely not going to rust unless I make a big mistake.

I hit the wall on retention on this knife yesterday. It has proven roughly comparable to my Yuki. The edge dropped off fast, to the point it was struggling fanning strawberries. I plan to sharpen it tomorrow morning with the Matsubara and see how it likes a more polished edge.

I have had a few coworkers use this knife as well and they have all assumed it cost much more than it did. One said it was his favorite of my knives. That puts it ahead of a Takeda, a Watanabe, and a Konosuke Fujiyama and Ginsan.

Wish I knew it was stainless clad, too. When I had a Makoto recently as a catch and release, I wiped excessively since I knew I would sell it. Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about (Fuss is warranted, by the way).

I don't mind some knife blingy-ness, and this one is a helluva good looker

Yeah its funny. I kept thinking that mine was very reactive and assumed there was maybe a laquer on it. I used it here and there quickly, but failed to notice the obvious before selling it.

I hit the wall on retention on this knife yesterday. It has proven roughly comparable to my Yuki. The edge dropped off fast, to the point it was struggling fanning strawberries. I plan to sharpen it tomorrow morning with the Matsubara and see how it likes a more polished edge.

I have had a few coworkers use this knife as well and they have all assumed it cost much more than it did. One said it was his favorite of my knives. That puts it ahead of a Takeda, a Watanabe, and a Konosuke Fujiyama and Ginsan.

My Yuki acts like that too. Keeps a good edge and dies all at once. Rather it loses that 'bite' in the edge all at once.